


Between the Lines

by willowharmony13



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-19
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-26 07:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2643296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowharmony13/pseuds/willowharmony13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A peek into what happened between the videos, and how Beatrice and Benedick ended up banding together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Burden your mouth for what you say

**Author's Note:**

> New chapters have been going on tumblr first (partially because I was waiting to get the account) but be sure to check it out at iguessiwriteficsnow.tumblr.com

It started like ice. Pure ice, crawling up and twisting down from the pit of her stomach, was freezing her solid. She’d been so happy for her baby cousin, who was finally getting the right occasion to wear that stupid blue dress of hers and spend her birthday with her friends and her sickly sweet boyfriend, and then… this.

Though she hated it, all Beatrice could do was stare. These hateful, horrid, completely false words seemed foreign in the mouth of Hero’s puppy-dog boyfriend. _Sleeping with someone else? Hero, a slut? He’d seen it?_ None of it made any sense.

Finally, she managed to turn her head to take a glance at Pedro. He’d been one of her best friends for years. He knew her, he knew _Hero_ , he was her friend, surely he wouldn’t stand there and let this kid who idolized him destroy her baby cousin like that. But when she looked at him… he seemed pleased. Smug. As if this was right.

That was when the ice inside of her turned to fire.

Everyone was leaving, and all she could do was grab her baby cousin around the shoulders and steer her towards the couch. Hero was sobbing so hard; Bea started to worry that she might set off her lung condition.

In the corner of her mind she registered Ben’s voice shouting, “Turn that camera off!” _He’s probably trying to keep his stupid little ‘bro’ from looking horrid. Though it’s a bit late for that._

“Hero, Hero, listen to me sweetheart. I need you to focus on me. Look at me,” Bea said quietly as she sat on the floor in front of her baby cousin, curled up on the couch. “Hero, pay attention. As I count to ten, you’re gonna breathe in. When I count down from ten, you’ll breathe out. Okay?” Hero gave a weak nod.

She counted to ten, and then down. Up to ten, and then back down. Bea noticed the counting calming her down too, and quickly began to re-stoke the fires of her anger. Hero needed to be calm, for her own sake. Bea needed to be angry. She needed to be angry so that she could protect her baby cousin. She needed to angry so that she could hate Pedro for that stupid look on his face and not collapse into the shock and hurt of her best friend hurting her baby cousin like that.

After a few minutes, Hero finally stopped shaking. Leo came over and picked her up, carrying her up to bed. All that talk about how she was all grown up, practically an adult, but Bea couldn’t help but see just how small she looked just then.

“Don’t you worry, Hero. I’ll kill him for you. I swear to God, I’ll kill them for this,” Bea muttered to herself.

She just stayed there, cross-legged on the floor, and finally let herself cry for herself. Her baby cousin was hurt and she couldn’t do anything. Her best friend had approved. She cried as quietly as she could, but then she heard someone clear their throat behind her.

“Bea?”

She whirled around to see none other than… Benedick. Shit. She’d been crying, she didn’t cry in front of people, why the hell was he still in the damn house anyway? Not bothering to get up, she hissed, “What do you want, you asshole? Because I have a hit list, and if you’re gonna defend your goddamn shit friends to me, I swear to God that you’re gonna be at the top.”

“No, I swear, Bea, I- I’m not. I can’t believe they did that. You have to believe me,” he said, a pleading tone to his voice. He took a few steps toward her, before sitting down in front of her. “She didn’t deserve that. No one deserves that. Regardless of whatever happened-“

“ _Whatever happened?!_ ” Bea cut him off. “She didn’t do it! Hero would never do that! Did you not see her last video? She was in love with that jerk!”

He threw his hands up in surrender. “I know that Bea, I know. Remember, she may be your cousin, but I have been going to the same school as her for years now. That girl would never hurt a fly. In fact if she somehow did hurt one by accident, I’m sure she would make a microscopic splint for it and nurse it back to health before setting it free in a lovely all-organic compost heap.”

She let out a small laugh at this, but the effort also brought forth a few tears… and a little snot. She tried to discreetly wipe her face as she nodded.

“I just… They were my friends… and they just… one of my best friends, and he just- he _approved._ His face, he was all smug, he thought it was-“ and then she was crying again, and she didn’t have the energy to care that she was doing this in front of _Benedick Hobbes,_ of all people. She just put her face in her hands and cried, because what else could she do?

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t- do that,” he said awkwardly, before pulling her forward into a hug. It felt weird, but a good weird. She buried her face in his shoulder (at least he couldn’t see her crying this way) and even found herself putting her arms around him, trying to disappear into the hug. Disappear and not deal with her problems.

After a few seconds, he spoke again. “They were being dicks. Total dicks. And this is coming from the guy whose name literally contains the word ‘dick,’” he muttered into her hair.

“They were my friends, Ben. How could they- how could I be friends with people who would do something like that? To someone like Hero? One of my best friends, since we were kids…”

“They were mine too, Bea. I know. People are shit.”

Another few seconds passed in silence, before Bea spoke up again.

“…I think I’m getting snot on your shirt.”

Ben pulled back, keeping his hands on her shoulders, glanced down at his shirt, and looked back up at her. “So you did. Luckily this is dry-clean-only, so I don’t have to touch your disgusting face slime.”

Bea laughed, a genuine laugh this time, and shoved him in the chest with both hands. “You stupid prick,” she laughed.

“Actually,” he quipped back, “it’s pronounced _Ben-e-dick._ ”


	2. My memory is cruel, I'm queen of attention to details

The next few days weren’t going too well for anyone. A trickle of the friends that remained would stop by, each with their own support and condolences. Ursula brought by ice cream and movies (no romance, as Beatrice had warned in a text before she’d come over. Romance probably wouldn’t make Hero feel better).  

Meg was holed up at her own house, and Bea couldn’t make herself feel mad at her for that. Even if her being this hurt meant she believed Claudio… well it wasn’t ridiculous for her to think Robbie would cheat on her.

Balthazar came by, to Bea’s initial surprise. He was one of the guys, after all. He talked to Hero a bit, and actually played a bit of music for her (“Dear Prudence” by The Beatles. Bea couldn’t help but approve).

And then… and then there was Benedick. He wasn’t much good at cheering Hero up, that was sure, but he didn’t try to do that. He just talked to her normally, just hung out with her and Bea, and when she wanted to be alone, he and Beatrice hung out. They ended up marathoning Game of Thrones and argue about which differences between the books and the show really mattered, and debate theories over who Jon Snow’s mother was.

At the end of they’re fourth consecutive episode, Bea hit pause on the TV.

“The camera,” she stated quietly.

Ben looked at her in confusion. “What camera? Are you judging the show’s cinematography?”

“No, at the party. Ursula’s camera. I saw her give it to one of the year nines- they were recording.”

“Yeah, and I made them turn it off. Don’t worry.”

“I remember that, but… Ursula wouldn’t- they wouldn’t- you don’t think it’s up, do you?”

There was a rare silence as the idea sunk in for both of them, before they each made a mad dash for the nearest laptop. Bea got to it first, opened up YouTube, and sure enough, there it was. Ursula had put one of the most traumatic moments of Hero’s life on the internet, for the whole world to see. It hadn’t been posted that long ago, after she’d come by. How could she see how Hero was and do that?

Bea slammed the laptop shut and stalked over to the couch, where she flopped down and released her loudest scream into the cushions, adding in a few punches to boot. She was sure she looked like some little kid having a tantrum, but it felt damn good.

“Beatrice? I’m pretty sure you could kill a man right now, but can I talk to you?” It was Benedick again. She silently cursed herself for breaking down in front of him _yet again._ This was getting ridiculous.

“Yeah,” she replied, her voice muffled by the cushions. Though no longer screaming, she was too embarrassed to face him.

“Well, I looked at it, and, well, there are too many views for the damage there to be undone…”

“Real helpful you are, jackass,” she snapped, sitting up to face him.

“Would you just let me finish? I’m not the one who put it up, remember?” he snapped right back.

“Fine then. What were you saying?”

“We can put up our own video. On your channel. Your viewers know Hero, they’re a good place to start for rallying people to her defense.”

“Surprisingly, you’ve had a good idea. Alright. We’ll do it.”


	3. Leave unsaid, unspoken; eyes wide shut, unopened

The video didn’t go as well as she’d planned. Quite a bit worse, actually. Apparently, her macho-man big cousin had decided to side _against his own little sister._ The very idea of it infuriated her. She could barely stand to stay in the house anymore. Not if it meant dealing with Leo, or facing just how little she could actually do to help Hero.

            One day she just got totally sick of it, and rather than go home at the end of the day, she grabbed Ben’s arm as they were leaving school and said, “Hey, idiot, I’m coming with you.”

            “Oh really, now?” he said, turning and smirking down at her.

            That damn smirk. Making her feel things that she certainly _couldn’t_ be feeling toward _Benedick Hobbes,_ of all people.

            She hid this with a narrowing of her eyebrows and crossing of her arms. “Right now you’re the lesser of about ten evils. Don’t take it as a compliment.”

            “Fair enough,” he replied, and so they walked together.

            It was clandestine enough. They did homework, marathoned TV, and generally avoided talking about things.

Slowly, she found herself becoming more familiar with his house. Besides the obvious where’s-the-bathroom and how-to-work-the-TV, she became familiar with where to find the teabags, which places were best for reading, that sort of thing. And he seemed to become familiar with her.

One day, she needed to stop by her own house before going over to his, by the time she got to Ben’s, there was a mug of tea, made just the way she liked it (English Breakfast, two spoons of honey) ready for her when she got there.

“Don’t be flattered, I just prefer you not waste time that could be spent on this damn physics homework,” Ben said with a grin as she plopped down on the bed next to him.

“I’m not flattered. And you’d be doing better if you paid attention in class.”

“Shut up.”

“Eloquent, as always.”

There was a brief silence, which was strange for him. She looked over at him, and he met her gaze. “So… how are things?” he asked.

She looked back down at her hands. “Not worse. Not better. There’s still nothing I can do.”

He put his arm around her, and she didn’t pull away. It felt natural, comfortable in a way that nothing felt anymore.

“I’m sure if you can manage to do better than me in physics, you can do pretty much anything.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“I admit to no such thing.”

“It sounded an awful lot like a compliment.”

“If you keep talking I’m spitting in your tea.”

“Touch my tea and die a painful death.”

“I thought tea was ‘unnecessary,’ as you so aptly put it.”

“Tastes are allowed to change, aren’t they?” She looked him in the eye, giving him a playful shove.

He paused for a second before laughing, a little half-heartedly. “Yeah, I suppose they are.”


	4. I can't continue pretending to choose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a plan is hatched, and some... realizations are made. (Set between "BROTHERS" and "Hero")

About a week later, something was different when she came by Ben’s. He had the same sort of tired look on his face that she’d seen in her own mirror every day.

            “Alright, spill,” she said, arms crossed. “What happened?”

            “How do you even-“

            “Oh, please. You’ve got a ‘fuck-you-world’ look on your face. It’s sort of universal.”

            “Did you not watch my last video?”

            She made a funny coughing noise, covering up something that sounded a bit like “I-might-have-unsubscribed…”

            “Are you serious?! Does anyone watch those even? I swear…”

            “Hey, I did after the stupid bird video. Forgive me if I hadn’t taken the time to think about resubscribing.”

            “I will give you a pass for not resubscribing do to recent events, but I maintain that the bird video was a work of genius and a brilliant way to start a new vlog.”

            “Who vlogs about _bird murder?_ ”

            “I do! It’s comedy gold!”

            She took a deep breath. _Focus, Bea. Focus._ “For fuck’s sake, just tell me whatever was in your last video.”

            “Claudio and Pedro came by.”

            “Oh.” It wasn’t that she hadn’t anticipated that sort of thing, after all, they were Ben’s friends too. But she still didn’t like the thought. “So I take it they haven’t been watching your videos either.”

            “Does anyone anymore?”

            “Look, I’ll resubscribe if it’ll stop you sulking. What happened?”

            “They were sort of dicks about… a lot of stuff. And I folded laundry angrily and told them to leave.”

            “That’s all?”

            “Look, I’m not going to give you a blow-by-blow. Watch the video if you want to know the details,” he shook his head and sat down on his bed. “I just wish they’d just listen to _someone._ I mean, I thought they’d listen to me, but they think I’m just on your side because I li-“ he stopped himself. “Uh, they just wouldn’t listen to reason.”

            Bea let out a choked laugh. “Does anyone anymore? It doesn’t matter that Hero’s been nothing but nice to everyone and is- was totally head over heels for Claudio, one word from the _Prince of Messina_ and she’s and evil slut.”

            “So what we need to do is get people to listen to us and Hero over Pedro and Claudio and pretty much everyone else.”

            “No shit, Captain Obvious.”

            “I think you’re mixing your insults there.”

            “Does it look like I give a shit?”

            “Fair enough.”

            They both flopped back on his bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to think of _something._

            “We could kidnap Robbie and force him to admit he didn’t sleep with Hero…”

            “Love, I’m pretty sure kidnapping’s a felony.”

            “Well you’re not being any help, dickface.”

            “Hey, I’m not saying we trash the idea, we just call it Plan B. Or C. Or maybe Z.”

            “Fine.”

            And so it went for about an hour. One would come up with an idea, and the other would shoot it down. It ended up taking so long that they took a break to make tea. As Bea took a sip of hers, it went down the wrong pipe, and she ended up coughing and spluttering.

            “Eureka!” Ben shouted, causing Bea to jump and slosh tea all down her front.

            “What, that I’m now completely covered in tea?”

            “No, no, the coughing. It made me think.”

            “About what?”

            “The night of the party, you made Hero control her breathing. Why?”

            “Whoa creepo, how long were you listening?”

            “I was there the whole damn time! So was Balth. Well, for the first bit. I think he went out to yell at Pedro and… not the point. Just answer the damn question.”

            “Her lungs have always been a bit shit. I didn’t want her to set of her condition.”

            “Okay, but, what if she did?”

            “Are you suggesting that we endanger my baby cousin’s life? Because I would carve out my liver with a spork before I let that happen.”

            “No, not for real. What if we just let everyone think she was really ill?”

            It took a couple seconds, but suddenly his plan clicked in her brain. “Like with famous people. They get ill or die, and everyone talks about how lovely they are.”

            He nodded vigorously. “Exactly! The idea of losing the person makes people think. Like, really think.”

            “And she’s already not going to school much… I can’t believe it, you actually came up with a decent plan!”

            “Who says I couldn’t?”

            “About three years of half-assed insults.”

            “You wound me, Lady Beatrice.”

            “Shut up, you dork!” She threw his arms around his neck and hugged him. They had a plan. They could _do_ something. It was too good to be true.

            “Hey, you’re getting me all covered in tea too!” he chuckled.

            “Oops,” she said, stepping back and laughing at him. They were very close still, almost too close, and it brought a thought she’d ignored back to the surface. “Um, Ben?”

            “Yeah?”

            “What was the end of that sentence?”

            “What are you talking about?”

            “Why wouldn’t Pedro and Claud listen to you?”

            He glanced down at his hands, then up to her face again. “They think I’m on your side because I like you.”

            She knew what she’d heard from Hero and Ursula and Meg, but that still floored her. Especially since certain feelings had begun to… resurface. “Oh.”

            “That’s it? ‘Oh’?”

            “So… do you?”

            “I like you better than anyone in the world. Isn’t that weird?”

            Suddenly there was a lump in her throat that hadn’t been there before. She tried, in vain, to swallow it, and nodded in response to his announcement.

            He looked a bit disappointed. “Aren’t you going to say anything? What about you?”

            “I… I could say I did… but I neither confirm nor deny that… I just… everything with Hero, I…”

            “Wait, are you saying you like me?”

            “Oh shut up!”

            “That’s a loser’s comeback and you know i-“ He didn’t get to finish because she had grabbed him by the front of his shirt and kissed him. She smiled against his lips as he put his arms around her.

            When they broke apart, she smirked and teased, “That answer your stupid question?”

            “Crystal clear. Though I can’t say I’d mind you answering me again.”

            “We’ll have time for that later. We’re partners in crime now, and we’ve got work to do.”


End file.
